Implementation intention: what an if–then plan specifies

The vocabulary points to the link between a cue and an action. A goal says what you want. An if–then statement specifies something you intend to do when a particular situation occurs. We can explain that form without promising that it will produce a result.

A goal and a plan on the same card

Consider a fictional adult, Jules, who wants to keep track of borrowed novels. “Keep my reading shelf organized” is the broad goal. Jules writes: “If I place a borrowed novel on this shelf, then I will put its return slip in the small envelope beside it.”

The card names a situation and a response. It does not establish that Jules will always notice the situation, have the slip or want this arrangement next month. It is an illustration of wording, not an outcome from a study.

Compare it with “If I have time, I will get organized.” That sentence also has if and then in ordinary speech, but it leaves the situation and action much less specified. The distinction is about what the plan says, not a grade assigned to the person.

An optional wording test

If you want to draft a small plan of your own, ask:

• What goal have I chosen?
• What specific situation would the “if” refer to?
• What action would the “then” name?
• Does it depend on something unavailable or somebody else's unagreed help?
• When would I want to revise or discard it?

The final question matters to our example: if the shelf is moved, Jules can change the card. Keeping an outdated sentence is not the purpose of the exercise.

A plan is not a rule imposed on somebody else

A parent might offer a choice of places for a child's library slip. The child may want a different arrangement. A partner can propose an agreed shared location without deciding the other person's internal plan. An educator may explain the if–then form without treating a missed action as proof that a student did not try.

If the task belongs to someone else, ask whether they want help writing a plan at all. A sibling does not become responsible for watching for every cue or reporting whether the response happened.

Keep the promise modest

This page does not claim that implementation intentions improve ADHD symptoms, guarantee follow-through or replace professional support. It does not reproduce an intervention protocol from the cited chapter. We are explaining a named research construct using an original, optional everyday illustration.

A usable takeaway is one clear sentence whose situation, action and owner you can identify. Whether it suits a real person's goal remains a separate question.

Source

[1] Peter M. Gollwitzer; Paschal Sheeran. Implementation Intentions. National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. No page-specific publication date stated. Accessed September 6, 2026. Overview and Nature and Operation of Implementation Intentions, especially printed page 6. Supports the adjacent attributed claim. All illustrative scenes, numbers and optional note formats are original inventions, not source findings.

Related guides

• intention action gap
• goal setting
• reminder
• task ownership